Pune: A third-year BA student (19) was killed and six others, including four girls, were injured after an SUV and a scooter collided and veered into a group of students waiting at a bus stop at Kurkundi Phata, about 45km from the city, on Friday morning.The two youths riding the scooter were also injured in the crash, while the SUV driver fled the spot after the accident.North Mahalunge police identified the deceased as Aditi Rale, a resident of Kurkundi. The injured students, Sanjana Rale (19), Vaishnavi Bhokase (19), Vaishnavi Jadhav (20) and Gayatri Kolekar (19), along with the two riding the scooter, Rohan Gargote and Omkar Nehre, were admitted to a nearby hospital.Senior police inspector Digambar Suryavanshi of North Mahalunge police told TOI that the accident occurred when the students were waiting at Kurkundi Phata for a bus to their college in Rajgurunagar. The SUV was travelling from Khed towards Alandi, while the scooter was approaching Kurkundi Phata from Kadus village.“It appears that the SUV driver could not spot the scooter until it suddenly came in front of him, because of a blind spot at Kurkundi Phata. As the SUV hit the scooter, both drivers lost control of their vehicles, which then veered into the group of students,” he said. Local residents took the injured to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared Aditi Rale dead on arrival, Suryavanshi said.The SUV driver abandoned the vehicle and fled. The SUV owner, who is from Alandi, was also in the vehicle and was taken into custody by police. “He told us that he was on his way to a polling booth for the graduates’ constituency,” Suryavanshi said.Police said the accident spot was a blind stretch and the road was narrow. Bushes along the road obstructed drivers’ view of vehicles approaching from Kurkundi and Kadus, leading to frequent accidents. “Local residents have been demanding installation of speed-breakers at the spot,” Suryavanshi said.
